Southern Lights & Space Shuttle Dazzle in Astronaut Photo

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NASA's shuttle Atlantis and the eerie green glow of the Southern
Lights serve as a dazzling sight in a new photo snapped by
astronauts from the International Space Station.

The photo was taken Thursday (July 14) by an astronaut on the
space station during NASA's final shuttle mission, the STS-135
flight of Atlantis.

The image offers a panoramic view of Atlantis, the space station
and the Earth as the two linked spacecraft soared in orbit at
about 17,500 mph. [ See
the amazing space aurora photo ]

"Aurora Australis or the Southern Lights can be seen on Earth's
horizon and a number of stars are visible also," NASA officials
said in a photo description. The image's long exposure led to
streaks in Earth's clouds, giving it a sense of speed.

The southern lights, like their northern counterpart the northern
lights, are auroras
created by charged particles from the sun's solar wind
interacting with Earth's atmosphere. The particles are funneled
to the polar regions of Earth by the magnetic field, then emit
brief flashes of light as they meet the atmosphere.

Astronauts on the space station and shuttle Atlantis also
captured other amazing
aurora photos on Thursday. In the series of aurora
photos from the station, the ever-changing nature of Earth's
auroras is evident as the southern lights shift from image to
image.

The space station is currently home to 10 astronauts made up of
the orbiting lab's core six-man crew and the four visiting
astronauts from shuttle Atlantis.